judge less

I am taking a college course in Business Communications. The teacher was going over the news in which he discussed how Bono, the lead singer of U2 keeps his money in a foreign bank to avoid taxes. A girl in the class says, “Who’s U2?” in a really kind of snotty way. I thought to myself, “Okay, I am a little older than these “kids” and not EVERYBODY has to like U2. Fine.” But today in class there was a sentence that we were revising that said something like: Despite that Paris sang on the album, it sold. Then this same girl blurts out, “I bought that CD! It’s got some really good songs on it! My favorite is ‘Screwed’!” I said, “You don’t know who U2 is and you bought Paris Hilton’s CD?” I can’t help it but I think that girl is a moron. Sorry, guess I still need work on this one!

So I’m at a stop light waiting for the light to turn green. A guy probably in his mid to late thirties is riding a beat up, too-small BMX bike through the intersection. He is unkempt and wearing a monster truck shirt (no I’m not kidding). He is also carrying a six pack of cheap beer. I chuckled to myself as I automatically assumed he had his license revoked and didn’t hold a job. Then I felt guilty. Was I judging him? Maybe in order to save money for his mom’s expensive surgery he opts to ride a bike. Maybe he also decides to forgo hair cuts and showers in order to save money which he donates to charity. The beer could have been bought for use in his beautiful garden to scare off the snails that have been eating his ailing mother’s favorite flowers. How can you stop your brain from automatically categorizing people, places and things unfairly (or fairly even) when it is a natural part of human behavior?